Kate and Gerry McCann have given an exclusive in-depth interview to the Leicester Mercury - their first since being made official suspects in the disappearance of their daughter.

The Leicestershire couple chose to speak to the regional newspaper title ahead of the national media, and extracts have now been put out through the Press Association.

Kate and Gerry visited the Mercury's St George Street offices earlier this week and gave a sombre interview to feature writer Lee Marlow.

Kate told the paper how the most trivial of things can bring her crashing down, but nothing had been as bad as that first night when their daughter Madeleine disappeared.

The couple, who live in Rothley in Leicestershire, thanked Mercury readers for their support, and said the letters and messages they had received had kept them going through the worst times.

They were also presented with a cheque for £57,000 - raised from the sale of green and yellow Bands of Hope launched by the Mercury.

The bands were launched to raise money for the McCann family's Find Madeleine Fund after Mercury deputy news editor Sian Brewis came up with the idea, and more than 50,000 were sold in an operation run by sales development manager Justine Walton.

Kate and Gerry promised the proceeds would be put to good use and would be added to the fund to find their missing daughter.

Mercury deputy editor Richard Bettsworth told holdthefrontpage: "Gerry and Kate visited the Mercury to collect the cheque, which I believe is one of the largest donations so far.

"They very kindly agreed to an interview with one of our feature writers, Lee Marlow, while they were here.

"We organised it through their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, who was very helpful. The McCanns have been aware of our campaign and I know they were very pleased to be able to come in and meet us and talk to us."

He added: "It is unfortunate that the Portuguese police investigation has shifted to name Gerry and Kate as suspects and we believe that is wrong.

"The McCanns say the focus should be on finding Madeleine and we wholeheartedly support them in that cause."